WOW, now I see the US fashion industry is really primarily an industry. I mean it's everywhere else as well, but the advertisers don't have either any power whatsoever or just a little when you publish rather a "women's magazine" than a "fashion magazine".

Well, I don't really understand that. When I pick up Nature or the Economist I hardly expect to be amazed by the art. Similarly, I don't expect to be overcome by the arguments and reasoning of fashion magazines. So why gawk at the images in Nature and why carefully read the articles in Vogue?

Look, I don't have the funds to buy a magazine and only look at one part of it (I'm a poor college student), whether it be editorials or articles. So when I buy a magazine I'm purchasing it because I want to enjoy all of the content inside. A lot of the articles in Vogue are fluffy but I still read them anyways. Whereas, when I'm reading The New Yorker, I don't expect to see lot's of pictures but rather lot's of articles that make me think. Different magazines are selling different things; Vogue is selling a luxurious lifestyle and The New Yorker is selling intellect. I find both highly enjoyable but in different ways. There is nothing wrong with enjoying either types of magazines (even though I feel like people sometimes turn there nose up when you say you read a certain type of magazine...but whatever... ***EDIT*** ).

__________________http://miss-rumphius.tumblr.com/ "It is ever so much easier to be good if your clothes are fashionable." Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Last edited by iluvjeisa; 21-04-2012 at 05:15 AM.
Reason: Please see rules pinned for this forum.

Look, I don't have the funds to buy a magazine and only look at one part of it (I'm a poor college student), whether it be editorials or articles. So when I buy a magazine I'm purchasing it because I want to enjoy all of the content inside. A lot of the articles in Vogue are fluffy but I still read them anyways. Whereas, when I'm reading The New Yorker, I don't expect to see lot's of pictures but rather lot's of articles that make me think. Different magazines are selling different things; Vogue is selling a luxurious lifestyle and The New Yorker is selling intellect. I find both highly enjoyable but in different ways. There is nothing wrong with enjoying either types of magazines (even though I feel like people sometimes turn there nose up when you say you read a certain type of magazine...but whatever...***EDIT*** ).

Well said!

I go back and forth though on whether Vogue is fluff though. No, it's not a philosophical, in-depth, thinkers magazine but it does consistantly have articles on various aspects of culture: art, Broadway, opera, indie and mainstream film, food, etc. All of that is stuff that expands people's minds, intelligence, and appreciation for life. True, Vogue isn't doing a critical review of any of it, but if an article gets someone to go to opera for the first time, go see musicals more often, try out an art house film, or think beyond mainstream Hollywood actors, then I think Vogue has succeeded.

True, other fashion magazines pull in cultural aspects (US Bazaar, despite being beyond seriously flawed, does a good job) but I think Vogue make it relevant in ways that the others don't. (Vogue succeeds because it isn't afraid to make callbacks to the past, while plowing ahead through the present when discussing culture. Whereas other magazines just refer to culture as a "of the moment, what is most popular right now" thing.)

(I forgot to post it in my other comment, but I'm sure it's pretty clear here, I do read articles and base my subscriptions on content as well as editorial.)

I actually really enjoy many of the articles in Elle & Harper's Bazaar (US)... that's the only reason I subscribe to them, as the eds are usually terrible. And I don't care for articles in Vogue very much...

On the other hand, I've bought magazines like Vogue IT & Numéro on eBay which are in languages I can't read, so clearly I've bought them just for editorial content.

I'm a languages student and I tend to buy foreign magazines (Vogue Paris, L'Officiel, Elle España) in order to read the articles, so I'm helping my language by reading about something I'm interested in. I generally avoid buying Vogue UK and US because I really don't like the articles. I'm definitely swayed by the quality of writing in English language publications. I love Interview, Lula and i-D, I think they have a great balance of visual and interesting features that cover a broad range of cultural interests.

I totally agree with what YoninahAliza said, I wouldn't spend money on a magazine unless I was going to enjoy every aspect of it (student life...), editorials as well as articles.

I understand that buying a fashion magazine for the editorials only could be seen as a waste of money, but to me reading the articles in half of the fashion magazines out there is a waste of time. I'd rather have my time and enjoy the editorials (and the occasional article). I don't really consider it a waste of money, personally.

I don't even mean it in an intellectually snobbish way. I don't care that the articles in Vogue US or whatever aren't heavy and meaningful, but I like to read about interesting things and most articles in fashion magazines simply don't grab me in that way. I'm just using Vogue US as an example here, because it's the one we've been discussing the most, but I really don't care about American politicians, the latest Broadway shows, or the New York ~elite. I don't find all their articles to be uninteresting, but it's just that when I go out to buy fashion magazines the editorials are why I buy them. I wouldn't buy an issue of Vogue for an interesting article, but I would for an editorial.

Edit: I just remembered that I made this thread in the Magazines section a few years ago. Clearly it never took off.

I do. The one thing which has made a subscription to British Vogue worthwhile over the years is the quality of the articles. They're always varied, well written and fascinating. If a publication has poorly written articles I won't buy it no matter how good the editorial content is. I'm a bit of a fashion snob in that respect... LOVE Magazine is a good example of this - the editorials are great but the writing is absolutely awful. I can't buy it.

I just read some people (mainly online and mainly critics during fashion week or about fashion topics in particular such as the change in Haute Coutere...), not because they write about fashion, but because they write well. Well writting makes things interesting... and most fashion mags have dull writting.

Here, we have only russianfashion magazines and since I was little, I used to read Alyona Doletskaya's Vogue from cover to cover. Now, I only watch the pics and read few articles.
I do love english Vogue though. There always are great articles in it as well as in the German Vogue.
I don't buy other mags but if I get one online I never read it. I understand that the main purpose of a fashion mag is to make us know and feel fashion better but unfortunately nowadays all those mags turned into some advertisment machines.

I wouldn't buy a magazine for the images alone. When I buy a magazine, I don't want something I can flip through and be entertained by for 10. Some publications tend to be pretty expensive and it's just not worth the money if I'm not reading any of the written content. For that, we have lovely tFS members who do scans for us. I would only buy a magazine if there was decent writing that's worth reading or if the eds are truly amazing and I want to keep them like one would keep a piece of artwork.

If I buy a magazine that means I want to read the whole thing, not just look at pictures. Why would I waste my money on something I'm not going to read? That seems silly. I actually think that US Vogue has had some pretty interesting articles, I like it when they interview female politicians (The article on Kristen Gillibrand from a few years ago was good. And I liked the one with Hilary Clinton). They've also had some interesting reflection pieces. However, I feel like when I first started reading Vogue they had more interesting articles (which was in like 2005-2006). And I hate, absolutely HATE reading the articles on "new beauty treatments." They are so annoying and elitist. I'll try and read those articles but a lot of the times I give up because they annoy me. But otherwise I always read every article. British Vogue can at times have some good articles too. Two other magazines that I read cover to cover include AnOther and Lula. Lula, is really charming and I always love reading interviews with a wide variety of artistic and interesting people.

The current US Elle has a fantastic Hillary Clinton interview ... of the fashion magazines I take, I think Elle has the articles that are most relevant to me. I have dropped a lot of my subscriptions within the past year or so, but of the magazines I take, I read most of the articles. I skip over those that I feel are irrelevant (often the beauty treatment articles you mention) or negative. In addition to Elle, I take Allure and Bazaar (usually has good trend coverage and interesting wardrobe articles--maybe not so much recently, but in the past few years). I notice a lot of Bazaar hate in this thread--not sure why, but I do think US Bazaar has an editing problem. Someone absolutely butchered a recent Suzy Menkes piece. Whoever is doing that needs to stop.

My favorite articles are in non-fashion magazines--O and Yes! O believes it is covering fashion (not its primary focus), but I don't think so

__________________There's a need for more individuality today, and my job is to cater to women, not dictate to them. --Alber Elbaz

O and Yes! O believes it is covering fashion (not its primary focus), but I don't think so

LOL! I read O too, and gotta agree with you on this point. Oprah & staff aren't the fashion insiders they think they are! However, I will give them points for showing "editorials" with non-discrimination towards body type, age, and ethnicity. Which is something Vogue can and should do more often.

^I read O too! Well... my mom get's it but I always steal her copy after she's done reading the magazine. O isn't really that fashion forward but for readers they are geared towards they actually do pretty well. They are trying reach the average (slightly older) women not a twenty something (like me). O introduces it's readers to fashions that will suit their lifestyles but also look good. I keep wishing that they would create a magazine like O but for younger women. It would be nice to read a magazine like O that has great articles and good fashions too. And portrays all different types of women within it's pages (in editorials and articles).

__________________http://miss-rumphius.tumblr.com/ "It is ever so much easier to be good if your clothes are fashionable." Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery